.460 S&W Magnum Personal Protection Gun
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silvermane_1
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sure for large bears and such, people, not so much.
Rifleman1952
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I read that one can fire 454 casual and 45 colt out it, but for defense against two legged predators, there are so many better choices. I suppose if one were living in the remote wilderness of Alaska, and you could only have one handgun, it would be a good choice.
It is such a large gun, I just can't imagine carrying it on the hip for any length of time. My super redhawk is too much weight on my hip, so the X frame SW would be more so. So as a daily carry, no.
As a home defense gun, maybe. If it was the only weapon I had in the house, I would load it with some stout 45 Colt loads... something in the range of a 250 grain hollow point at 1000 ft/sec... That would give you something like 550 ft-lb of energy, and would be a bit hotter then a 45 ACP +P load. Bufalo bore makes something like this. Coming out of that massive X frame, the recoild would be acceptable.
But what is the likelihood that the only gun a person owns is a $1300 enormous revolver which shoots $3 cartridges?
Jim
As a home defense gun, maybe. If it was the only weapon I had in the house, I would load it with some stout 45 Colt loads... something in the range of a 250 grain hollow point at 1000 ft/sec... That would give you something like 550 ft-lb of energy, and would be a bit hotter then a 45 ACP +P load. Bufalo bore makes something like this. Coming out of that massive X frame, the recoild would be acceptable.
But what is the likelihood that the only gun a person owns is a $1300 enormous revolver which shoots $3 cartridges?
Jim
buck460XVR
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If one has ever shot a .460 S&W, they realize that in the small enclosed confines of most SD/HD scenarios, that the muzzle blast and flash would blind and deafen everyone in the room. This includes the shooter, the BG/BGs and innocent bystanders. In the case of the deafness, it could be permanent. The blast of gas and particles from the cylinder gap would injure anyone standing next to the firearm when fired. The thick jacketed or hard cast bullets needed to properly shoot thru a .460 revolver would pass thru the BG like a piece of cardboard and pass thru anyone else behind them. Even if they were in another room in the house next door.
The minute you shoot .45 colt thru one, it no longer is a .460, it is a .45 Colt. If that's what you intend to do....get a .45 Colt. For big game hunting and for defense against dangerous game and large predators, the .460 is an excellent choice. Unless one had no other options or availability, for SD/HD it would be a foolish choice.
The minute you shoot .45 colt thru one, it no longer is a .460, it is a .45 Colt. If that's what you intend to do....get a .45 Colt. For big game hunting and for defense against dangerous game and large predators, the .460 is an excellent choice. Unless one had no other options or availability, for SD/HD it would be a foolish choice.
Have you ever seen one in person? They are HUGE. Seriously, they make an N frame look like a mouse gun. Even if you did decide to use .45 colt in it, you'd be limited to five rounds. A model 25 or a redhawk/super redhawk would be better of you insisted on using .45 in a revolver.
No...
No
I'm surprised S&W would even post a statement like that.
A few years ago, I read a gun press item where the writer advised carrying; "the largest handgun you can handle" for personal defense.
I rarely see license holders or armed citizens stroll around with N frame .44magnums or .50AE Desert Eagles.
In my view, you should carry a sidearm that has good ballistics, is compact(concealed), offers good marksmanship & works correctly under nearly all conditions.
When you carry & train with a brand, it becomes second nature & easy to have on you. A huge S&W revolver or large pistol isn't something most gun owners could really use for defense.
No
I'm surprised S&W would even post a statement like that.
A few years ago, I read a gun press item where the writer advised carrying; "the largest handgun you can handle" for personal defense.
I rarely see license holders or armed citizens stroll around with N frame .44magnums or .50AE Desert Eagles.
In my view, you should carry a sidearm that has good ballistics, is compact(concealed), offers good marksmanship & works correctly under nearly all conditions.
When you carry & train with a brand, it becomes second nature & easy to have on you. A huge S&W revolver or large pistol isn't something most gun owners could really use for defense.
LOL... wait, was this a serious question?
Only if you need personal protection against a marauding T-rex.
Way too powerful for 99.9% of self-defense scenarios and then the recoil would make it hard to control if you really did run into the .1% deserving this much power.
I guess there are guys who need a handgun this big. I'm not one of them.
Only if you need personal protection against a marauding T-rex.
Way too powerful for 99.9% of self-defense scenarios and then the recoil would make it hard to control if you really did run into the .1% deserving this much power.
I guess there are guys who need a handgun this big. I'm not one of them.
by your own admission, S&W did not say it was a good personal protection gun, they said it was "intimidating".
Not the same thing, and in this case not even close...
Certainly it would be intimidating to anyone in front of the muzzle, but perhaps they also meant it was intimidating to the user as well.....
There are guns purpose built for personal defense. There are guns purpose built for combat. There are guns built for sport of one kind or another. And they all overlap when needs must. AND all will serve, if used skillfully. Some just require more skill to use effectively than others.
I wouldn't choose to do my grocery shopping driving a 9 yard concrete mixer, BUT if it was the only way I could get my food, I would. And it would work...
S&W is in the business of selling guns. Short of outright lies anything that attracts interest is grist for the advertising mill. I think the intent might be just to get someone to look at it, and when they do, they'll think "yeah, its intimidating alright... its huge!....now this one over here.." (looking at a different S&W)....
I could be wrong, but that's what I think...
I saw a different kind of statement the other day, made me smile. On the Coonan website. (for those who don't know, Coonan makes a 1911 style auto pistol, stainless, in .357 Magnum)
Their blurb was something like this...
"Looking for your first gun?
This ISN"T IT!"
(or something very close to that.)
That's the kind of truth in advertising we don't see often enough!
Not the same thing, and in this case not even close...
Certainly it would be intimidating to anyone in front of the muzzle, but perhaps they also meant it was intimidating to the user as well.....
There are guns purpose built for personal defense. There are guns purpose built for combat. There are guns built for sport of one kind or another. And they all overlap when needs must. AND all will serve, if used skillfully. Some just require more skill to use effectively than others.
I wouldn't choose to do my grocery shopping driving a 9 yard concrete mixer, BUT if it was the only way I could get my food, I would. And it would work...
S&W is in the business of selling guns. Short of outright lies anything that attracts interest is grist for the advertising mill. I think the intent might be just to get someone to look at it, and when they do, they'll think "yeah, its intimidating alright... its huge!....now this one over here.." (looking at a different S&W)....
I could be wrong, but that's what I think...
I saw a different kind of statement the other day, made me smile. On the Coonan website. (for those who don't know, Coonan makes a 1911 style auto pistol, stainless, in .357 Magnum)
Their blurb was something like this...
"Looking for your first gun?
This ISN"T IT!"
(or something very close to that.)
That's the kind of truth in advertising we don't see often enough!
Who in God's name is going to carry a 4 lb handgun for self-defense? It would take until next week to get the damned thing to battery. After six misses due to weapon intimidation, recoil that Muhammad Ali in his prime couldn't whip, muzzle flash that would set off every fire alarm in the nation, & loss of sight picture than could lose the USS Ronald Reagan at dry dock, throwing the damned boat anchor of a gun at a bad guy would be the best option.
Ask me & I'd opine staying within the self-defense cartridge Bell Curve.
Ask me & I'd opine staying within the self-defense cartridge Bell Curve.
It does also fire the .454 & .45 Colt.
I worked with a .460 snub version S&W sold in a hardcase bear pak a few years back.
That one could be carried.
The current long-barreled versions COULD be carried.
Firing a full-power .460 indoors would cause major hearing damage & be close to the equivalent of a SWAT flashbang grenade in terms of disorientation for everybody, including the shooter.
Rapid followup shots if you miss would be impossible.
Penetration, as noted, would be through & through, and not just the target.
If you had to download the gun to .45 Colt why bother to use that gun in the first place?
And so on.
An effective anti-bear gun, yes; but anti-people? Not a chance.
Denis
I worked with a .460 snub version S&W sold in a hardcase bear pak a few years back.
That one could be carried.
The current long-barreled versions COULD be carried.
Firing a full-power .460 indoors would cause major hearing damage & be close to the equivalent of a SWAT flashbang grenade in terms of disorientation for everybody, including the shooter.
Rapid followup shots if you miss would be impossible.
Penetration, as noted, would be through & through, and not just the target.
If you had to download the gun to .45 Colt why bother to use that gun in the first place?
And so on.
An effective anti-bear gun, yes; but anti-people? Not a chance.
Denis
Inspector3711
New member
It would be an excellent choice for the intimidation factor alone. Practice is expensive though.
I tend to think the "intimidation" factor talked about so often is about as useful for self defense as taking the old double barrel outside and firing off two rounds to scare them away. Or my favorite, just racking the action on a twelve gauge will stop most people. All of those might be true to some extent but I am not going to bet my life on it, or even let it into my self defense thinking.
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